


birds fly in different directions

by acorn_ddddd



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, M/M, Minor Loki/Tony Stark, Not Beta Read, This is kinda rushed and bad lmao, cause that one sucked, scott isn’t with him, tony chooses another plan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 12:23:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20025772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acorn_ddddd/pseuds/acorn_ddddd
Summary: Tony, alone, back in 2012 and smack bang on the middle of the battle of New York, has to come up with a fool-proof plan of getting back the tesseract.Oh look, Loki’s right here.“Okay, Reindeer Games. We’re going to have to leave before past-me and Thor realise you’re gone, before I take off that muzzle,”





	birds fly in different directions

Tony Stark took a deep breath. 

Secretly, Tony was relishing in the ability of his larger lung capacity. Going back in time and being able to look at his younger self had somewhat unnerved him – he knew that when he had the arc reactor he couldn’t take as deep breaths as before and it rattled him.

He didn’t realise how much it had actually mattered to him until now.

The billionaire called back the nanoparticles as he jumped off the side of his building, feeling the nice, cool metal cocooning himself in a safety barrier. Reliving New York definitely wasn’t on his to-do list when he woke up this morning. 

Well. Neither was discovering time travel, but look where he was now.

The man was on his own now, to come up with a spectacular plan to retrieve the tesseract from his younger self and a younger Thor and the entirety of SHIELD who was grabby hands for the infinity stones. 

And, well, Loki. Tony can admit that when the news came out that Loki was being controlled in a way that was close to Clint, but much more personal, Tony was interested. He felt like kicking himself when he looked over surveillance recordings from SHIELD, and also from the penthouse level in his tower.

In the back of his mind, he realised that the confrontation between the two of them on that floor had _just_ happened, and wasn’t that weird to think about? Tony realised that he had lain his whole life on the line in order to stall the god who had been rampaging in his city, for the Avengers who had eventually betrayed him. 

He scowled lightly in his suit as he landed in a blown out floor, calling back and retracting the nanoparticles into the casing. God, what a day.

* * *

Tony was following the god in front of him, decked in SHIELD’s dark blue gear and visor and carrying one of their guns. It was itchy and uncomfortable as hell, but Tony had to admit that it did a good job hiding who he was.

On the way down, he had approached the SHIELD agents following the god, convinced them that Fury had ordered him to take over their posts, and taken over. The agents had seemed very eager to leave – well, they were probably nervous of being around the man who had led an army through a wormhole. Tony couldn’t blame them.

The visor hid his face and eyes, but his goatee unfortunately stuck out. It would’ve been easily recognisable if anyone was looking for him.

But, seeing as though Tony Stark was right in front of him, waltzing through the hallway with Loki trailing them, he didn’t think that was much of a problem. He clicked his tongue, “I’m trailing him” He half said to himself and half to his teammates, who were no doubt listening in, via the device in his ear.

Of course, on his way down here, awkwardly changing clothes in an abandoned meeting room, he had explained to Cap and Scott his improvised plan. To somehow convince the power-hungry god to join them and help him get the tesseract. To give over to the enemies he’d just fought.

Not that Tony viewed Loki as his enemy anymore, but Loki had just gone through a very busy few days of fighting, attacking and being pummelled into the floor by a green rage monster. Loki would no doubt see Tony as his enemy.

“Here goes.”

“Good luck, Tony,” Captain America said through the comms, his voice low. Right, he was probably going through his mission in retrieving the sceptre from SHIELD. Well, HYDRA, they knew now.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, “I think I’ll need it.”

Their group were nearing the lobby as they made their way past the open doorway, and just as Loki was about to continue walking, Tony reached out, hand outstretched, grabbed him by the green cape and _yanked_ him over to him. Making sure not to damage what was most likely treasured clothing, Tony changed where he held Loki to his non-metal plated shoulder. 

They ducked in the small extra hallway in the wall, making sure that nobody saw them.

The God’s eyes were wide, confused most likely, but there some other emotion lurking in his green, mossy eyes. Curiosity? Relief? Tony retracted the visor over his eyes and he could immediately see how Loki scanned him, observing his face and no doubt noticing he looked different from young-Tony. More grey hairs.

“Okay, Reindeer Games. We’re going to have to leave before past-me and Thor realise you’re gone, before I take off that muzzle,” He said in a low voice, so quiet that he wasn’t sure Loki had even heard him, based by lack of reaction. He was prepared to say it again, louder this time, but Loki eventually gave a small nod in agreement.

“Okay,” He breathed out, almost feeling faint in relief. He had no idea what he would’ve done if Loki had picked up a fuss and led Thor and past-himself to the two. He didn’t really want to think about it. 

“Okay, alright. So, I’m gonna need you to follow me. We need to get to a place where Jarvis can’t detect us. So let’s go. Quietly, alright?” Loki raised a single eyebrow, which, yeah alright, he can’t talk at the moment, “Oh and that undetected place would most likely be an employee’s bathroom, but you don’t really strike me as someone who cares about health and sanitation.”

Loki made a quiet, but insistent noise in the back of his throat, which to Tony sounded like ‘get on with it and stop rambling, mortal’ 

Tony nodded once, “Right, let’s go.”

Tony peeked his head out of the small hallway, noticing that in the lobby, nobody had realised yet that Loki had disappeared – that was something he hated about 2012 them. Everyone was so cocky, taking things for granted, including himself. 

They didn’t think that the god could do anything in chains. Nobody was even _holding_the chains, for fuck’s sake. They had put their trust in a couple SHIELD agents to keep him in place and intimidated. 

If Loki had decided to lash out, the only one near them that could do any damage would be Thor. And Loki has already proved that he’s perfectly capable of beating Thor in a fight.

Tony led Loki through the hallway they were in, going _way_ back in his memories to try and find somewhere where JARVIS was not monitoring audio in the place, eventually finding a staff room for lower paid employees. 

He walked in, shutting the door behind him and Loki. He regretted adding in the function to only allow Stark Industries employees to be able to lock doors; oh well, he’ll have to make do.

He clapped his hands, yanking off the SHIELD helmet and throwing it atop a small table. Loki stood there, still in handcuffs and the gag, “Right, first things first.” The engineer approached him, not hesitating to bring his hands round the back of his neck and using his nimble fingers to release the gag off Loki’s jaw.

The first thing that Loki did was clear his throat, and lick his dry lips, before turning his attention back to Tony, “Hm. You’ve aged, Stark.”

Tony could feel his eyebrows climb up his forehead in slight surprise, well he certainly wasn’t expecting that. He scrunched up his face, searching his pockets for his StarkPhone, and holding it front of the manacles clenched shut on Loki’s hands. He let out an exhale of pride and relief, “Thanks? In my point of view, you’ve gotten younger.”

Loki brought his wrists out of the chains, carelessly placing them on a table next to the forgotten SHIELD helmet. The two objects shined with clarity in the afternoon sun, clashing with the sounds of chaos and destruction outside.

“No doubt. Well this is strange, indeed. Another Tony Stark releasing me, of all people? It’s unlike you to trust me not to run off,” Loki started, his face set in a line but his eyes sparkling with barely hidden mirth.

“Listen, I’m gonna stop you right there. I know you won’t run off because you’re curious. And stop with the cheesy villain schtick, I don’t think it really fits you anymore.”

Tony caught the look of surprise upon Loki’s face before the god schooled it into a blank expression.

“And why not?” The tone of the man’s low and raspy voice was lacking true malevolence now that Tony knew what that could sound like, but it seemed like Loki gave it a good old try.

“Okay,” he clicked his tongue, staring at Loki’s emerald green eyes and feeling the corner of his mouth twitch up at the revelation and confirmed enough suspicions, “Look, I know you were working for Thanos, in less than satisfactory ways, and I’m pretty sure he was mind-controlling you in some way. So stop, and cooperate. Listen to me.”

He stared at Loki’s green eyes, his own most likely hard and penetrating. The god in front of him twitched, before his face fell back into a blank mask once again. There was a barely there sigh, “Alright. I’ll listen to what you have to say. I’m guessing that you’re either from the future, or an alternate universe, judging by the copious amounts of grey hairs.”

Tony tilted his head, again scrunching his face into a swirl of surprise and consideration, “I mean, I know we’re from the future. Not too sure about alternate universe though.”

“We’re?” Loki repeated, one of his black eyebrows raised, “Who’s with you?”

Tony blinked. Oh right, he hadn’t said anything about his companions, “Uh, Steve. A guy who can get really, really small. And also Bruce; he’s in New York but not around here.”

“Hm. And what gave you the motivation to travel back in time?” Loki’s voice sounded bored to untrained ears, but Tony could recognise the look in his eyes. Curious, wanting to learn more. It was like looking into a mirror when _he_ was younger. He sighed.

“Thanos. He, uh, succeeded.. in his second attempt at gathering the infinity stones. We need the stones so we’re getting them from other times in our universe. I’m getting the tesseract, and the others are getting the sceptre and another stone in the city.”

Tony felt hesitation in telling Loki of their plans to gather the stones, but he pushed it back down rather forcefully. Loki was not a willing participant in Thanos’ goal and he had to remind himself of that. Even if Loki wouldn’t admit it to him.

It’s not like he’s surprised that Loki hasn’t told him he was being controlled yet. Back in 2012 and onwards, it seems Loki didn’t tell anyone that his mind was taken over during the invasion. Hearing that from Thor the first time wasn’t very surprising, but he couldn’t help feeling a bout of anger at the god. He obviously knew of Thanos and his plans and kept it hush hush until it eventually happened. 

God, if Loki had actually told them of Thanos and what he wanted, they could have been much more prepared. Six years knowing in advance went down the drain because of the God’s stubbornness.

Tony took a deep breath, calming himself.

“Look, Loki. We need your help.”

Loki visibly winced in front of him, his hands fidgeting at the side of his hips, “What makes you think I want to help you?”

“‘Cause I know you. You’re exactly like me,” He couldn’t help but soften his smile at the hesitant look in the God’s oh-so-green eyes, “Reindeer Games. I bet you aren’t too eager to face that big ugly grape right now, but I’m gonna be honest with you, you die at his hand anyway.” The engineer didn’t even have to try to see that bout of fright and anxiety wash over his expressions.

He recovered fast, “I know that’s going to happen. Of course he’d come after me – I wasn’t _planning_ to go and hide.” He scoffed, turning around to go wander over to the windows and gaze out of the pane of glass.

There was silence between them for a moment, the air thick and heavy as both men heard muffled shouts and cries outside. Tony thought, with a wince, that with the battle over, reinforcements would be searching for bodies.

Another deep breath.

“Loki. I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but I trust you. I trust you to have your own selfish reasons, sure, but those selfish reasons also help the entire universe out.” Tony took a deep breath, his exhale audible throughout the entire room.

“_Why_ do you trust me?” Now that his face was hidden from Tony’s gaze, he could only guess what Loki truly felt by his voice and body language. He was tense, his muscles still as he looked away from the engineer. His voice was irritated, but Tony started to think that was Loki’s way of coping when he didn’t know what else to say.

Tony shrugged, even though the god couldn’t see it, “No reason not to.” 

Loki looked back to him, his black eyebrows scrunched together with a washed look of confusion. Before Loki even got to open his mouth to reply, there was a loud yell coming from the lobby, and it sounded suspiciously of the name belonging to the god in front of him.

Tony whipped his head to the noise and back to Loki in front of him, “Were out of time. Are you going to help me or not?” He stormed over to the man and stuck out his hand, glaring into Loki’s eyes.

There was a storm of hesitation in Loki’s eyes, his jawline twitching as he obviously thought it over.

As Tony was about to retract his hand and speak up once more, a large, callused hand caught his in an iron grip, “Yes, why not.” His voice was deep, monosyllabic and certain. A contrast to the look that was in eyes before.

The engineer was struck with a bout of surprise, but relief quickly took over. The noise from the lobby only grew in volume, but Tony wasn’t in the mindset to process the words.

He chuckled lowly, a smile upon his face, “And now, all we need to do is grab the tesseract. I think we have about 10 minutes left before we have to regroup, so game-plan! Have any ideas?”

And here, surprisingly, a sheepish look came over Loki’s white face, purposeful though, as though it’s only reason for being there was so that Tony could ask him what it was there for. So he did just that, “What? Why the face? What did you do?”

“While you were babbling, I sent out a clone to take my place. It seemed as though there was a little argument with another man and he tried to grab the tesseract case from your younger self,” He tsked, “And obviously you lot squabbled over it. When the Hulk came crashing from the stairs, someone bumped into it when fleeing. And it maybe, kind of fell at my clones foot.”

Tony stared, agape, “What?? So you’re saying that you have the tesseract. Right now?”

Loki produced a grin, all teeth as he held out a hand palm-up. With a flash of golden and green light, the tesseract slowly manifested into the whole cube, blue shining from the space stone trapped inside. 

Tony’s open mouth slowly formed into a large grin, on the verge of laughing out in relief, “Oh my God, I’d kiss you if I weren’t a married man. You just made everything so much easier!” He threw his hands up over his head, smiling.

“Yeah. You’re welcome, Stark. Now what?” Even if Loki tried to hide it, Tony could pick up the pride and happiness laced in his voice. Probably from the amount of recognition and approval he’d been given by Tony.

“Uh. We need to meet up with Steve and Scott. They’ll most likely have the sceptre by now. We agreed with Bruce that he could return from where he was. It’s literally the other side of Manhattan.”

Loki nodded, slowly. After a moment, he hummed, low and melodic, as though he was thinking back to what Tony had told him.

“What? What is it now?”

“I was just wondering whether or not you actually learned anything about the infinity stones.”

“Oh yeah? What do you mean by that?”

Loki rolled his eyes, “What I mean, is that you seem to know absolutely nothing about the stones and what their each respective power is,” He explained, his face gaining a concentrated look, as though he had recited the same thing many times, “The space stone is the concentrated ingot of Space. Space is a tricky thing but essentially it means that you can ‘teleport’ anywhere you want if you know how to control it properly.”

Tony was caught up in Loki’s stare, admitting to himself and himself only that he didn’t know that. God, Thor could’ve been more help with that with his apparent wide expanse knowledge of the infinity stones. But then again, the blonde Asgardian didn’t really give an impression of being a scholar. That title definitely fit Loki more.

“Okay, yeah of course. So you can control it? You can teleport anywhere you want?”

“Of course.”

“Thank fuck!” He threw his arms up and crossed them over his head, “I knew coming to you was a great idea. I don’t know what made me decide it a good idea, but it was!” He chortled.

“Yes well, we probably want to do that now. I do believe those steps coming down the hallway belong to my oafish brother,” The trickster noted, calm as ever. He swept his green gaze over to Tony, a smirk flashing across his lips, “Where are we going?” 

If Tony strained his hearing, he could indeed hear low thumps, menacing as Thor could get, calling out Loki’s name in a near growl. Yeah, Loki has a good idea of leaving; he didn’t want to get his skull bashed in by Mjolnir. 

He rushed over to Loki’s side, gripping the man’s forearm, “Uh, I would tell you the street, but I don’t think you know them.” A look silenced Tony, “Wait, you do? Okay, never mind, uh, just try the 39th street. That’s near there and we should be able to find Steve and Scott there.”

Loki nodded, his fingers curling over the blue cube of the tesseract. Tony could feel a draft gushing past his head, purple storms clouding in his peripheral vision and the last thing he saw was the door bursting open and a mop of blonde hair before his vision went black.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew! I was pretty unhappy how endgame went with Loki. We’ve already established that he had the same motivations, so why couldn't they have teamed up?
> 
> So this is a stupid thing I wrote to show what I hoped would have happened. 
> 
> I might make another part if people like this? Perhaps them going to Steve and Scott and maybe even going back with Loki?? Hmm we’ll see


End file.
